All Rise...

Editor's Note

The Charge

The new James Bond…living on the edge.

Opening Statement

The Living Daylights was the first appearance of Timothy Dalton (Flash Gordon, The Beautician and the Beast, The Rocketeer) as Agent 007. After Roger
Moore's (A View to a Kill,
Octopussy, For Your Eyes
Only) increasingly campy take on the role, Dalton very intentionally tried
to steer Bond closer to Ian Fleming's original intent, giving us a darker, more
serious Bond. The Living Daylights is also notable as the last true Cold
War adventure for James Bond. MGM has released The Living Daylights in
the third box set of their recent 007 Special Edition Collection.

Facts of the Case

The movie opens to an MI6 training exercise. Three double-O agents, including
Bond, must infiltrate the British radar facility on Gibraltar. The exercise goes
badly wrong. An unknown enemy agent kills two of the MI6 men before Bond
discovers him. Bond chases him down, and they fight while careening down narrow
mountain roads in a burning jeep full of explosives. Bond dispatches the villain
and winds up on a yacht with a beautiful young woman who thinks he is just what
she has been looking for.

From there Bond heads to Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, where he is to assist
in the defection of KGB General Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé—Scandal, Dangerous Beauty, CBS's
"Jesus" miniseries). Koskov is set to defect during intermission at a
concert at the Bratislava Conservatory. While at the concert, Bond's unerring
eye for the ladies picks out Kara Milovy (Maryam D'Abo—The Sea
Change, So This is Romance, An
American Affair), a beautiful blond cellist who may also double as a KGB
assassin.

Koskov makes it to England where he informs MI6 about "Death to
Spies," a covert operation being planned by KGB General Pushkin (John
Ryhs-Davies—Raiders of the
Lost Ark, King Solomon's Mines,
Firewalker). The consequences of such an operation would be decimation of
the intelligence community on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Koskov is
defecting to stop this, because he understands the necessary role the
intelligence community plays; without information on what the other side is
doing, the chance of being drawn into an actual war, up to and including a
nuclear war, are much greater.

The plot thickens when Koskov is captured from an MI6 safe house, ostensibly
by the KGB. MI6 sees this as confirmation of Koskov's reports, and Bond sets out
to thwart General Pushkin's plans. He returns to Bratislava where he finds Kara
Milovy. Milovy, as it turns out, is Koskov's girlfriend. The two of them are
drawn into a plot involving Koskov, an American arms dealer with delusions of
grandeur, and a drug smuggling operation to finance the Afghani Mujahadeen.

The Evidence

There is one moment in The Living Daylights, fairly early in the
movie, when I knew I was indeed watching a James Bond picture. It is the first
scene at the Bratislava Conservatory, with Bond and a fellow MI6 operative
preparing to assist Koskov's defection. Classical music plays as the camera
moves around the room, providing an elegant introduction to the main characters.
The scene shows Bond in his element, a cultured man of the world but with
underlying currents of deadly intrigue. In my opinion it just felt right, and
captured a real sense of class and style.

The Living Daylights presents an complex story of intrigue that was
missing from many of the prior installments in the Bond franchise. It draws
heavily from the current events of the day to create a story that is almost
believable, yet fantastic enough to be a suitable adventure for 007. The only
drawbacks are that the story is so intricate and convoluted that it will leave
some viewers' heads spinning, and that the movie seems a bit long as a
result.

Timothy Dalton's tenure as James Bond often seems to be overlooked. I may be
in the minority, but I have a great appreciation for Dalton's take on the role.
Dalton's Bond is toned down and more businesslike, but hints at darker emotions
just below the surface. He is still the supremely confident super spy, but
without the showboating of Moore's Bond. He still makes wisecracks and has a
sense of humor, but it is drier, more subtle, perhaps more British. Dalton, a
Shakespearean actor of some distinction, is quietly in command of every
situation. He gives a performance that is part Patrick Stewart and part Harrison
Ford.

It was a sign of the times when this movie came out that it featured only
one "Bond girl." With the growing awareness of AIDS, it suddenly
became unfashionable for Bond to bed his normal succession of beautiful women.
Additionally, Dalton wanted to focus on the serious aspects of the Bond
character. Instead of a vapid poster girl, we are given the Maryam D'Abo as Kara
Milovy. Milovy is an intelligent character, dedicated to her musical career and
not terribly interested in the world of espionage until her involvement with
Koskov draws her in. She is not merely a conquest for Bond, but an actual love
interest. D'Abo brings intelligence and poise to the character.

MGM has provided us with a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer on this disc, as well
as Dolby 5.1 sound. The sound mix is excellent, with extensive use of the rear
channels for the musical score and for directional effects in action scenes. Of
particular note are the many scenes which involve orchestral performances. The
sound in these scenes is of the quality one would expect from a concert DVD, not
just a James Bond film.

This disc contains a collection of extra material that truly deserves the
title "Special Edition." Three trailers are provided. The North
American teaser trailer is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The UK teaser
trailer makes for an interesting comparison, and is presented in the European
standard 1.66:1 aspect ratio. The release trailer is also included, and is
presented in 2.35:1. All three trailers are definitely showing their age, but
their inclusion on this disc is certainly welcome. Also welcome is the original
music video for A-Ha's title song, "The Living Daylights." There is
also a four minute documentary featurette on the making of the music video. This
looks to me like something that might have originally aired on MTV back in 1987.
Surprisingly enough it does contain a few interesting nuggets of information.
There is also an interesting deleted scene entitled "Magic Carpet
Ride," which shows an action sequence which didn't work out very well.

There are two documentaries included. The first is entitled "Inside The
Living Daylights" and runs for 36 minutes. Narrated by Patrick Macnee, it
is a very thorough look at the making of the movie. It includes a lot of
interviews with those involved, as well as a lot of behind the scenes footage.
It appears that Timothy Dalton was either unavailable or unwilling to cooperate
in the making of this documentary; all of his scenes look old and faded, as
though they come from an interview shot at the time the movie came out. The
piece overall is very well edited, and Dalton's scenes blend in smoothly, but
they are very noticeably recycled. Of particular interest is footage showing Sam
Neill (Jurassic Park) and Pierce
Brosnan (The World is not Enough)
testing for the part of Bond in scenes with Maryam D'Abo.

The second documentary is called "Ian Fleming—007's Creator"
and is 44 minutes long. It covers Fleming's life in great detail, and includes
comments from many of his relatives. While there is a lot of interesting
information here it did get to be a bit long and dry.

The audio commentary on this disc features Director John Glen with comments
from several others involved in the movie edited in along the way. Glen's
comments make up the bulk of the track, and follow the action as it happens. For
specific scenes pre-taped comments from various actors or crewmembers are edited
in. The track gives a lot of information, both regarding specific scenes and the
overall making of the movie. It is well done but does tend to be a little
dry.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

In order for a Bond picture to be truly great, a memorable villain is
essential. Blofeld and Goldfinger were real Bond villains, ruthless and evil to
be sure but with wit and personality to match 007 himself. It is the lack of a
strong antagonist that keeps The Living Daylights from taking a place
among the best of the series. Joe Don Baker (Mars Attacks!, Tomorrow Never Dies, Cape Fear) gives a good performance as
the arms merchant Whitaker. However, this character, with his comic
eccentricities and delusions of grandeur, feels like he really belongs in one of
the Roger Moore installments. The same applies to General Koskov, Jeroen
Krabbé's glad-handing KGB defector. He is played mostly for laughs, and
can't be taken seriously as an adversary for Bond. Andreas Wisniewski (Die Hard, Mission: Impossible) makes a better
impression as Necros, the walkman-wearing hitman, but he lacks the flair of Jaws
or Oddjob.

I have a few complaints with the disc itself. The transfer looks good
overall, with mostly good color saturation and natural-looking flesh tones.
However, much of the movie appears soft and just slightly out of focus. Colors
look slightly washed out or faded in several places, generally in daytime
exterior scenes. These are probably not major problems and probably won't be
off-putting to the casual viewer. I also detected some pretty noticeable
shimmering in the opening pre-credits action sequence and again later on in
Whitaker's mansion in some decorative tile patterns and General Putin's necktie.
It is a good transfer overall, but it could have been just a bit better.

The extra content, as noted above, is extensive and well done. If I have one
complaint, it is the lack of dossiers on the cast and crewmembers. I think most
DVD aficionados have come to expect these, and they are a nice way to spotlight
the actors and other individuals involved in the production. However, in light
of the volume of material provided, this is not a major complaint.

Closing Statement

The Living Daylights is a fine Bond adventure, although perhaps just a
bit confusing and overlong. Bond fans and casual viewers alike will enjoy the
fast-paced action and intriguing story. It suffers from the lack of a solid
villain, but is entertaining throughout nevertheless. MGM has put together a
very good disc that truly merits the title "Special Edition."